From Forbes.com, Nathan Lewis weighs in on how the gold standard impacts the middle class.

At The Atlantic, Matt O’Brien says Janet Yellen will be the most powerful woman in history.

“I know that sounds a little hyperbolic,” O’Brien concedes, but “the Fed Chair is maybe the third-most important job in the world right now, and being powerful in a globalized world matters more than in a non-globalized one. Queens could only dream that their edicts moved the world economy as much as a dramatic FOMC announcement does today.” The Fed’s interest rates, which Yellen will set, don’t just affect America’s economy — they “set the course” for the world’s economy. He notes, “you can make a strong case that Europe’s slow march towards federalism — or financial ruin! — has made [German chancellor Angela Merkel] more significant. But Merkel only holds the economic fate of Europe in her hands. Yellen will hold the economic fate of, well, the whole world in hers.” Matt Yglesias, the economics writer at Slate, responds: “You’re really [daring] Merkel to invade Poland aren’t you.”